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Penance / Confession (Basics/Misc.)

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"(Jesus)
said to them again, 'Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me,
so I send you.' And when he had said this, he breathed on them and
said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are
forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.'" (Jn.
20:21-23)

"Confess
all your sins." (St. Francis of Assisi)

"No
power can the impenitent absolve." (Dante)

"You
should be
ashamed to commit sin, but not to repent."

"For
the Lord is close to the contrite of heart." (Second Council of
Nicaea)

"You
can't hide, but you can confess." (St. Augustine, Doctor of
the Church)

"So
long as there is sin in the world so long must there be
penance." (Benson)

"Sin
is not forgiven unless restitution be made" (St. Augustine,
Doctor of the Church)

"Can.
965 A priest alone is the minister of the sacrament of
penance." (1983 Code of Canon Law)

"To
the one who still remains in this world, no repentance is too
late." (St. Cyprian of Carthage)

"Repentance
is the renewal of Baptism and a contract with God for a second
life." (St. John Climacus)

"He,
who, in repenting of his sins, thinks only of God, has the truest
contrition." (St. John Vianney)

"Let
the sinner be glad in that he is invited to pardon." (Pope
St. Leo the Great, Doctor of the Church)

"Confess
your offenses in church, and do not go up to your prayer with an
evil conscience." (Didache, c. 140 A.D.)

"By
the authority of Christ our Lord, the priest in Confession acts as 'God's ear' and
'God's voice'."

"Let
your love be in proportion to your pardon, and doubt it not: Your
sins shall be forgiven." (Gueranger)

"Dost
thou not know that the goodness of God leadeth thee to
repentance?" (Pope St. Callixtus, c. 220 A.D.)

"It
is better for a man to confess his sins than to harden his
heart." (Pope St. Clement, 1st century A.D.)

"After
we have offended God, the Devil labors to keep the mouth closed,
and to prevent us from confessing our guilt." (St. Alphonsus
Liguori, Doctor of the Church)

"[T]he case is not desperate for a person to have been
wounded, but for him to neglect the cure of his wounds." (St.
John Chrysostom, Doctor of the Church)

"For
if the sick man is ashamed to confess his wound to the physician,
medicine will not cure that to which it is not applied." (St.
Jerome, Doctor of the Church)

"A
soul does not benefit as it should from the sacrament of
confession if it is not humble. Pride keeps it in darkness."
(St. Faustina Kowalska)

"Mere
renouncement of sin is not sufficient for the salvation of
penitents, but fruits worthy of penance are also required of
them." (St. Basil, Doctor of the Church, 4th century A.D.)

"Nothing
is better able to restrain the movements of the soul, better able
to subject to right reason the natural appetites, than
penance." (Pope Pius XII)

"Can.
989 After having reached the age of discretion, each member of the
faithful is obliged to confess faithfully his or her grave sins at
least once a year." (1983 Code of Canon Law)

"Repentance
is the returning from the unnatural to the natural state, from the
devil to God, through discipline and effort." (St. John of
Damascus, Doctor of the Church)

"Within
the Church sins are forgiven in three ways: by baptism, by prayer,
and by the greater humility of penance." (St. Augustine,
Doctor of the Church, 4th century A.D.)

"In
almost every case, fallen-away Catholics begin the process of
moral disintegration by questioning the need for the Sacrament of
Confession." (Clowes)

"Can.
907 The precept of confessing sins is not satisfied by one who
makes a sacrilegious confession or one that is intentionally
null." (1917 Code of Canon Law)

"Can.
991 All Christ's faithful are free to confess their sins to
lawfully approved confessors of their own choice, even to one of
another rite." (1983 Code of Canon Law)

"Can.
980 If the confessor is in no doubt about the penitent's
disposition and the penitent asks for absolution, it is not to be
denied or delayed." (1983 Code of Canon Law)

"Can.
986 §2 In an urgent necessity, every confessor is bound to hear
the confessions of Christ's faithful, and in danger of death every
priest is so obliged." (1983 Code of Canon Law)

"Penance is
ordained for the destruction of sin." (St. Thomas Aquinas,
Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history
of the Church")

"We
declare it a mock penance if it is not imposed according to the
authority of the holy fathers in proportion to the sin."
(Pope St. Gregory VII)

"There
are many souls stretched out on a psychoanalytic couch today who
would be far better off if they brought their consciences to the
confessional box." (Archbishop Fulton Sheen)

"Through
the office of priests those should be reconciled to Holy Church by
doing penance, who have departed from this society by
sinning." (St. Bede the Venerable, Doctor of the Church, 8th
century A.D.)

"The
minister to whom confession is made the delegate of Christ, Who is
the judge of the living and the dead." (St. Thomas
Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the
history of the Church")

"It
is an abuse to confess any kind of sin, whether mortal or venial,
without a will to be delivered from it, since confession was
instituted for no other end." (St. Francis de Sales, Doctor
of the Church)

"The
sorrow of contrition is a hindrance to worldly joy, but not to the
joy which is about God" (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the
Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the
Church")

"Do
your realize that what the priest does validly is also bound in
heaven? So when you are forgiven, God is bound to abide by the
decisions of his authorized earthly representatives?"

"Can.
990 No one is forbidden to confess through an interpreter,
provided however that abuse and scandal are avoided, and without
prejudice to the provision of can. 983 §2." (1983 Code of
Canon Law)

"Properly
speaking, there are especially two kinds of compunction: for the
soul that thirsts for God is first sorry in his heart from fear,
and them from love." (Pope St. Gregory I the Great, Doctor of
the Church, 6th century A.D.)

"Can.
870 In the sacrament of penance, through judicial absolution
imparted by a legitimate minister, those sins committed after
baptism are remitted from the rightly disposed faithful."
(1917 Code of Canon Law)

"Can.
966 §1 The valid absolution of sins requires that the minister
have, in addition to the power of orders, the faculty of
exercising it for the faithful to whom he imparts
absolution." (1983 Code of Canon Law)

"Can.
906 All members of the faithful of either sex after attaining the
years of discretion, that is, the use of reason, are bound
faithfully to confess all their sins at least once a year."
(1917 Code of Canon Law)

"Even
when one confesses his sins, he ought to do so with praise of God;
nor is a confession of sins a pious one unless it be made without
despair, and with a prayer for God's mercy." (St. Augustine,
Doctor of the Church, 5th century A.D.)

"[T]he
perfection of Penance requires contrition of the heart, together
with confession in word and satisfaction in deed." (St.
Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian
in the history of the Church")

"Our
Lord knew the proneness of human infirmity to sin, but because He
is merciful, He does not allow us to despair, but rather has
compassion, and gives us repentance as a saving remedy." (St.
Cyril, Doctor of the Church)

"We
should perform our penance overwhelmed with joy at being able to
satisfy God, whom we have offended, and at finding such an easy
means of effacing our sins which should have earned eternal
sufferings for us." (St. John Vianney)

"Let no one then ever put
forth so cold an excuse as, I dare not, I am ashamed, I cannot
open my mouth. The devils have that kind of fear. The devil would
fain close against you every door of access to God." (St.
John Chrysostom, Doctor of the Church)

"Remember
that when the priest gives you absolution, you have but one thing
to think of - that the Blood of the good God is flowing over your
soul to purify it and make it as bright as it was made by its
Baptism." (St. John Vianney)

"Can.
979 In asking questions the priest is to act with prudence and
discretion, taking into account the condition and the age of the
penitent, and he is to refrain from enquiring the name of a
partner in sin." (1983 Code of Canon Law)

"Can.
910 § 1 The confessions of women should not be heard outside [the
confessional] except in cases of illness or other true
necessity, and following the precautions that the local Ordinary
decides are opportune." (1917 Code of Canon Law)

"The
faithful, therefore, are first to be admonished and exhorted to
labor strenuously to attain this interior penance of the heart
which we call a virtue, and without which exterior penance can
avail them very little." (Catechism of the Council of Trent)

"If
any one saith, that in the Catholic Church Penance is not truly
and properly a sacrament, instituted by Christ our Lord for
reconciling the faithful unto God, as often as they fall into sin
after baptism; let him be anathema." (Council of Trent)

"Can.
981 The confessor is to impose salutary and appropriate penances,
in proportion to the kind and number of sins confessed, taking
into account the condition of the penitent. The penitent is bound
personally to fulfil these penances." (1983 Code of Canon
Law)

"In
Holy Church the remission of even crimes themselves, no matter how
great they may be, by God's mercy need not be despaired of by
those who do penance according to the gravity of their sins."
(St. Augustine, Doctor of the Church, 5th century A.D.)

"If
any one saith, that God always remits the whole punishment
together with the guilt, and that the satisfaction of penitents is
no other than the faith whereby they apprehend that Christ has
satisfied for them; let him be anathema." (Council of Trent)

"Can.
976 Any [validly ordained] priest, even though he lacks the faculty to hear
confessions, can validly and lawfully absolve any penitents who
are in danger of death, from any censures and sins, even if an
approved priest is present." (1983 Code of Canon Law)

"Can.
987 In order that the faithful may receive the saving remedy of
the sacrament of penance, they must be so disposed that,
repudiating the sins they have committed and having the purpose of
amending their lives, they turn back to God." (1983 Code of
Canon Law)

"This
carelessness and indifference to one's own welfare sometimes go so
far as to lead to neglect even of the sacrament of Penance, which
Christ, in his great mercy, has given us as a most timely aid to
human weakness." (Pope St. Pius X, "Haerent Animo",
1908 A.D.)

"For
just as fevers are not able to be assuaged when they are deep
seated, but offer a hope of cessation when they break, so too the
illness of sins burn on while it is hidden, but disappears when it
shows itself in confessions." (St. Ambrose of Milan, Doctor
of the Church, c. 385 A.D.)

"If
any one, confounding the sacraments, saith that baptism is itself
the sacrament of Penance, as though these two Sacraments were not
distinct, and that therefore Penance is not rightly called a
second plank after shipwreck; let him be anathema." (Council
of Trent)

"[T]he
Church obliges all to confess once a year; because she commands
all to receive Holy Communion once a year, viz. at Easter,
wherefore all must go to confession before that time." (St.
Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian
in the history of the Church")

"If
any one saith, that it is necessary for every one, for the
obtaining the remission of sins, that he believe for certain, and
without any wavering arising from his own infirmity and
disposition, that his sins are forgiven him; let him be
anathema." (Council of Trent)

"If
any one saith, that bishops have not the right of reserving cases
to themselves, except as regards external polity, and that
therefore the reservation of cases hinders not but that a priest
may truly absolve from reserved cases; let him be anathema."
(Council of Trent)

"The
difficulty and the shame of confessing one's sins could seem heavy
indeed, if it were not lightened by many wonderful advantages and
consolations which most assuredly are conferred in absolution on
all those who approach this sacrament [of Penance] worthily."
(Council of Trent)

"The
person who turns to good is set free, even if his life is marred
by a multitude of mistakes and the sum of his evil deeds seems
like a thousand years. It is nothing as far as turning to God is
concerned, for his eye always considers the present, not the
past." (St. Gregory of Nyssa)

"Do
not imitate those who deceive themselves by saying: 'I will sin
and then go to confession.' How do you know that you will
have time to make your confession? Is it not madness to wound
oneself, in the hope that a doctor will be found who will heal the
wound?" (St. John Bosco)

"My
children, when we have a little stain on our souls, we must do
like someone who has a beautiful crystal globe of which she takes
great care. If the globe gets a little dusty, when she sees it,
she will pass a sponge over it, and there is the globe bright and
shining again." (St. John Vianney)

"If
any one saith, that the satisfaction, by which penitents redeem
their sins through Jesus Christ, are not a worship of God, but
traditions of men, which obscure the doctrine of grace, and the
true worship of God, and the benefit itself of the death of
Christ; let him be anathema." (Council of Trent)

"It
is not enough for a man to change his ways for the better and to
give up the practice of evil, unless by painful penance, sorrowing
humility, the sacrifice of a contrite heart and the giving of alms
he makes amends to God for all that he has done wrong." (St.
Augustine, Doctor of the Church)

"Let
us not then be ashamed to confess our sins unto the Lord. Shame
indeed there is when each makes known his sins, but that shame, as
it were, ploughs his land, removes the ever recurring brambles,
prunes the thorns, and gives life to the fruits which he believed
were dead." (St. Ambrose, Doctor of the Church)

"Repeated
sickness must have repeated medicine. You will show your gratitude
to the Lord by not refusing what the Lord offers to you. You have
offended but can be reconciled. You have One Whom you may satisfy,
and Him willing." [Tertullian ("an excellent early
Christian writer" - although he would ultimately fall into
heresy), 3rd century A.D.]

"How
inconstant it is to expect pardon of sins to be granted to a
repentance which they have not fulfilled. This is to hold out your
hand for merchandise, but not produce the price. For repentance
is the price at which the Lord has determined to award
pardon." [Tertullian ("an excellent early Christian
writer" - although he would ultimately fall into heresy), 3rd
century A.D.]

"In
the life of the body a man is sometimes sick, and unless he takes
medicine, he will die. Even so in the spiritual life a man is sick
on account of sin. For that reason he needs medicine so that he
may be restored to health; and this grace is bestowed in the
sacrament of Penance." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the
Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the
Church")

"Baptism
blots out all sins together and introduces a new life; whereas
Penance does not blot out each sin, unless it be directed to each.
For this reason it is necessary to be contrite for, and to confess
each sin." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and
"greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"Can.
985 The director and assistant director of novices, and the rector
of a seminary or of any other institute of education, are not to
hear the sacramental confessions of their students resident in the
same house, unless in individual instances the students of their
own accord request it." (1983 Code of Canon Law)

"See,
my children, to receive the Sacrament of Absolution, we need three
things: faith, which reveals to us the presence of God in the
priest; hope, which enables us to believe that God will give us
His pardon; charity, which makes us love God and fills our heart
with regret for having displeased Him." (St. John Vianney)

"If
any one desires to perform a proper penance, he must needs go back
to the origins of his faith and with watchful care keep the
promise made at his baptism, namely, to renounce the Devil and all
his works and to believe in God, that is, to have the right idea
of him, and to obey his commandments." (Pope St. Gregory VII)

"Where
punishment for sins is prescribed there ought to be penance; where
remission is given to sinners there also is grace. Penance
proceeds; grace follows. There is neither penance without grace
nor grace without penance, for penance should first condemn the
sin so that grace can do away with it." (St. Ambrose, Doctor
of the Church, 4th century A.D.)

"Can.
901 Whoever perpetrates a mortal [sin] that has not yet been
directly remitted through the keys of the Church [in the sacrament
of Penance] must after a thorough in all respects [examination] of
conscience confess and explain in confession the circumstances
that change the species [e.g. seriousness] of the sin." (1917
Code of Canon Law)

"If
any one saith, that man is truly absolved from his sins and
justified, because that he assuredly believed himself absolved and
justified; or, that no one is truly justified but he who believes
himself justified; and that, by this faith alone, absolution and
justification are effected; let him be anathema." (Council of
Trent)

"Can.
881 § 1 All priests of either type of clergy who are approved for
the hearing of confessions in a place, wither so enabled by
ordinary or delegated jurisdiction, can also validly and licitly
absolve wanderers and travelers from another diocese or parish
coming to them, and likewise Catholics of any oriental rite."
(1917 Code of Canon Law)

"Can.
1340 §1 A penance, which is imposed in the external forum, is the
performance of some work of religion or piety or charity. §2 A
public penance is never to be imposed for an occult [secret]
transgression. §3 According to his prudent judgement, the
Ordinary may add penances to the penal remedy of warning or
correction." (1983 Code of Canon Law)

"The
custom of never admitting children to confession, or of never
absolving them when they have arrived at the use of reason, is to
be disapproved entirely. Therefore, the local ordinaries will see
to it, even by applying the remedy of the law, that this custom is
entirely abandoned." (Congregation
on the Sacraments, "Quem singulari", August 8, 1910
A.D.)

"Although
the priest may be unable to absolve the penitent from all his
sins, yet the latter is bound to confess all to him, that he may
know the total quantity of his guilt, and refer him to the
superior with regard to the sins from which he cannot absolve
him." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and
"greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"Can.
986 §1 All to whom by virtue of office the care of souls is
committed, are bound to provide for the hearing of the confessions
of the faithful entrusted to them, who reasonably request
confession, and they are to provide these faithful with an
opportunity to make individual confession on days and at times
arranged to suit them." (1983 Code of Canon Law)

"But
although the absolution of the priest [in the sacrament of
Penance] is the granting of a gift that is not his own,
nevertheless, it is not merely a simple ministry that consists in
announcing the gospel or of declaring that the sins are remitted;
but it is like a judicial act whereby the sentence is pronounced
by the priest as a judge." (Council of Trent)

"When
anyone has really give up his sins, he must not be content simply
with bewailing them. He must give up, leave far behind, and fly
from anything which is capable of leading him in the direction of
them again. In other words, my dear brethren, we must be ready to
suffer anything rather than fall back into those sins which we
have just confessed." (St. John Vianney)

"The
Church's ministers do not remit sin of their own authority as
principal efficient causes. Only God can do that... They should not
be called givers of grace, for that implies authority, but rather
ministers of the granting of Christ's grace." (St. Thomas
Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the
history of the Church")

"How
are they to be dealt with who avoid the greater sins but do not
hesitate to commit the lesser ones? ... First of all, it must be
understood that this distinction has no basis in the New
Testament. A single declaration is made against all sins, when the
Lord days, 'He that sins is the slave of sin.'" (St. Basil
the Great, Doctor of the Church, c. 371 A.D.)

"The
same rationale is observed in the declaring of one's sins as in
the detection of physical diseases. Just as the diseases of the
body are not divulged to all, nor haphazardly, but to those who
are skilled in curing them, so too our declaration of our sins
should be made to those empowered to cure them" (St. Basil
the Great, Doctor of the Church, c. 371 A.D.)

"If
the serpent, the devil, has secretly and without the knowledge of
a third person, bitten anyone, and has infused into him the poison
of sin; if unwilling to disclose his wound to his brother or
master, he is silent and will not do penance, his master, who has a
tongue ready to cure him, can render him no service." (St.
Jerome, Doctor of the Church)

"By
Church teaching, no sin is merely personal. It is an affront to
God and inevitably harms God's creation - one's family, friends,
and neighbors. A priest acts in persona Christi, granting
forgiveness in Christ's name and admonishing the sinner to sin no
more, giving him penance as a means to expiate temporal punishment
due to sin." (Crocker)

"We
cannot do penance worthily unless we know what penance really is.
For to do penance is both to weep for wicked deeds done, and not
to do anymore what we would have to weep over. For anyone who
deplores some sins but still commits others either dissimulates in
doing penance, or does not know what penance is." (Pope St.
Gregory the Great, Doctor of the Church, 6th century A.D.)

"If
you wish to be justified, confess your sin. For a shamefaced
confession of sins breaks the bond of your crimes. You see what
God, your God, demands of you: that you keep in mind the grace you
have received that you do not boast as if you had not received it.
You see by what a promise of forgiveness He draws you to
confession." (St. Ambrose of Milan, Doctor of the Church, c.
387 A.D.)

"Can.
884 The absolution of an accomplice in a sin of turpitude is
invalid, except in danger of death; even in case of danger of
death, outside of a case of necessity, it is illicit on the part
of the confessor according to the norm of the apostolic
constitutions, specifically the constitution of Benedict XIV
Sacramentum Poenitentiae of 1 Jun. 1741" (1917 Code of Canon
Law)

"If
any one denieth, either that sacramental confession was
instituted, or is necessary to salvation, of divine right; or
saith, that the manner of confessing secretly to a priest alone,
which the Church hath ever observed from the beginning, and doth
observe, is alien from the institution and command of Christ, and
is a human invention; let him be anathema." (Council of
Trent)

"I
entreat you, beloved brethren, that each one should confess his
own sin, while he who has sinned is still in this world, while his
confession may be received, while the satisfaction and remission
made by the priests are pleasing to the Lord. Let us turn to the
Lord with our whole heart, and expressing our repentance for our
sin with true grief, let us entreat God's mercy." (St.
Cyprian, 3rd century A.D.)

"Can.
988 §1 A member of the Christian faithful is obliged to confess
in kind and number all grave sins committed after baptism and not
yet remitted directly through the keys of the Church nor
acknowledged in individual confession, of which the person has
knowledge after diligent examination of conscience. §2 It is
recommended to the Christian faithful that they also confess
venial sins." (1983 Code of Canon Law)

"If
any one saith, that he, who has fallen after baptism, is not able
by the grace of God to rise again; or, that he is able indeed to
recover the justice which he has lost, but by faith alone without
the sacrament of Penance, contrary to what the holy Roman and
universal Church - instructed by Christ and his Apostles - has
hitherto professed, observed, and taught; let him be
anathema." (Council of Trent)

"Boethius
says (De Consolatione Philosophiae i): 'If you want the physician
to be of assistance to you, you must make your disease known to
him.' But it is necessary for salvation that man should take
medicine for his sins. Therefore it is necessary for salvation
that man should make his disease known by means of
confession." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and
"greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"When
we put on Christ in baptism (Gal. 3.27), we become in Him an
entirely new creature and obtain the full and complete remission
of every sin. It is only with great effort and with great
compunction on our part that we can obtain the same newness and
sinlessness in the sacrament of penance, for such is the
stipulation of divine justice. That is why the holy Fathers called
penance 'a laborious kind of baptism'."
(Council of Trent)

Error
CONDEMNED by Pope Leo X in the Bull 'Exsurge Domine': "Sins are not forgiven to anyone,
unless when the priest forgives them he believes they are
forgiven; on the contrary the sin would remain unless he believed
it was forgiven; for indeed the remission of sin and the granting
of grace does not suffice, but it is necessary also to believe
that there has been forgiveness." (Pope Leo X, This error was
condemned in the Bull 'Exsurge Domine', 1520 A.D.)

"The
faithful, therefore, will see the great care that each one should
take in selecting (as confessor) a priest, who is recommended by
integrity of life, by learning and prudence, who is deeply
impressed with the awful weight and responsibility of the station
which he holds, who understands well the punishment due to every
sin, and can also discern who are to be loosed and who are to be
bound." (Catechism of the Council of Trent)

"If
any one saith that satisfaction for sins as to their temporal
punishment is nowise made to God through the merits of Jesus
Christ by the punishments inflicted by Him and patiently borne, or
by those enjoined by the priest, nor even by those voluntarily
undertaken, as by fastings, prayers, almsdeeds, or by other works
also of piety; and that therefore the best penance is merely a new
life; let him be anathema." (Council of Trent)

"Again
the priest in hearing a confession takes the place of God, so that
confession should be made to him just as contrition is made to
God: wherefore as there would be no contrition unless one were
contrite for all the sins which one calls to mind, so is there no
confession unless one confess all the sins that one remembers
committing." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and
"greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"There
are venial sins and there are mortal sins. It is one thing to owe
ten thousand talents, another to owe [but a minor amount]. We
shall have to give an accounting for an idle word no less than for
adultery. But to be made to blush and to be tortured are not the
same thing; not the same thing to grow red in the face and to be
in agony for a long time... There is a great difference between one
sin and another." (St. Jerome, Doctor of the Church, c. 393
A.D.)

"Yet
those who do penance in accord with the kind of sin they have
committed are not to despair of receiving God's mercy in the Holy
Church, for the remission of their crimes, however serious. In the
penitential action, however, where the crime committed was such
that he who committed it is separated from the body of Christ, it
is not so much the length of time as the depths of sorrow that is
to be considered." (St. Augustine, Doctor of the Church, c.
421 A.D.)

"Although
the entire punishment may be remitted by contrition, yet
confession and satisfaction are still necessary, both because man
cannot be sure that his contrition was sufficient to take away
all, and because confession and satisfaction are a matter of
precept: wherefore he becomes a transgressor, who confesses not
and makes not satisfaction." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of
the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the
Church")

"Note
well that it is through the Holy Spirit that sins are forgiven.
Men make use of their ministry in the forgiveness of sins, but
they are not exercising any power that is theirs by right. It is
not in heir own name, but in the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit that they forgive sins. They ask and the
divinity forgives. The ministration is of man, but the gift
bestowed is from the Power on high." (St. Ambrose of Milan,
Doctor of the Church, 381 A.D.)

"If
any one saith, that the sacramental absolution of the priest is
not a judicial act, but a bare ministry of pronouncing and
declaring sins to be forgiven to him who confesses; provided only
he believe himself to be absolved, or (even though) the priest
absolve not in earnest, but in joke; or saith, that the confession
of the penitent is not required, in order that the priest may be
able to absolve him; let him be anathema." (Council of Trent)

"If,
therefore, by force or fraud, the penitent has taken any thing
from his neighbor, he is bound to restitution. Likewise, if by
word or deed he has injured his neighbor's honor or reputation, he
is under an obligation of repairing the injury by procuring him
some advantage or rendering him some service. Well known to all is
the maxim of St. Augustine: The sin is not forgiven unless what
has been taken away is restored." (Catechism of the Council
of Trent)

"Let
confessors remember the words of St. Alphonsus Liguori on a
similar matter: 'In general...in such cases the more severity the
confessor uses with his penitents, the more will he help them
towards their salvation; and on the contrary, the more cruel will
he be the more he is benign.' St. Thomas of Villanova called such
over-kind confessors: Impie pios - 'wickedly kind'; 'such charity
is contrary to charity.'" (Pope Pius XI, "Ad Catholici
Sacerdotii", 1935 A.D.)

"Still
more pernicious is the fault of those who, yielding to a foolish
bashfulness, cannot induce themselves to confess their sins. Such
persons are to be encouraged by exhortation, and are to be
reminded that there is no reason whatever why they should fear to
disclose their sins, that to no one can it appear surprising if
persons fall into sin, the common malady of the human race and the
natural consequence of human infirmity." (Catechism of the
Council of Trent)

"Doing
penance for one's sins is a first step towards obtaining
forgiveness and winning eternal salvation. That is the clear and
explicit teaching of Christ, and no one can fail to see how
justified and how right the Catholic Church has always been in
constantly insisting on this. She is the spokesman for her divine
Redeemer. No individual Christian can grow in perfection, nor can
Christianity gain in vigor, except it be on the basis of
penance." (Pope John XXIII, 1962)

"If
you want God to forgive, you must confess. Sin cannot go
unpunished. It were unseemly, improper, and unjust for sin to go
unpunished. Since, therefore, sin must not go unpunished, let it
be punished by you, lest you be punished for it. Let your sin have
you for its judge, not its patron. Go up and take the bench
against yourself, and put your guilt before yourself. Do not put
it behind you, or God will put it in front of you." (St.
Augustine, Doctor of the Church, c. 5th century A.D.)

"When
your heart has fallen, raise it gently, humbling yourself greatly
before God, and acknowledging your fault, but without marveling at
your fall; since it is no marvel that infirmity should be infirm,
weakness weak, and frailty frail. But nevertheless heartily detest
the offence of which you have been guilty in God's sight, and with
hearty courage and confidence in his mercy, begin once more to
seek that virtue from which you have fallen away." (St.
Francis de Sales, Doctor of the Church)

"If
any one saith, that the confession of all sins, such as it is
observed in the Church, is impossible, and is a human tradition to
be abolished by the godly; or that all and each of the faithful of
Christ, of either sex, are not obliged thereunto once a year,
conformably to the constitution of the great Council of Lateran,
and that, for this cause, the faithful of Christ are to be
persuaded not to confess during Lent; let him be anathema."
(Council of Trent)

"Now
this sacrament, namely the sacrament of Penance, consists...in the
removal of a certain matter, viz. sin, in so far as sins are said
to be the matter of Penance... This removal is expressed by the
priest saying: 'I absolve thee': because sins are fetters,
according to Proverbs 5:22. 'His own iniquities catch the wicked,
and he is fast bound with the ropes of his own sins.'" (St.
Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian
in the history of the Church")

"If
any one saith, that the keys are given to the Church, only to
loose, not also to bind; and that, therefore, priests act contrary
to the purpose of the keys, and contrary to the institution of
Christ, when they impose punishments on those who confess; and
that it is a fiction, that, after the eternal punishment, has, by
virtue of the keys, been removed, there remains for the most part
a temporal punishment to be discharged; let him be anathema."
(Council of Trent)

"Can.
978 §1 In hearing confessions the priest is to remember that he
is at once both judge and healer, and that he is constituted by
God as a minister of both divine justice and divine mercy, so that
he may contribute to the honor of God and the salvation of souls.
§2 In administering the sacrament, the confessor, as a minister
of the Church, is to adhere faithfully to the teaching of the
magisterium and to the norms issued by the competent
authority." (1983 Code of Canon Law)

"Can.
964 §1 The proper place for hearing sacramental confessions is a
church or oratory. §2 As far as the confessional is concerned,
norms are to be issued by the Episcopal Conference, with the
proviso however that confessionals, which the faithful who so wish
may freely use, are located in an open place, and fitted with a
fixed grille between the penitent and the confessor. §3
Confessions are not to be heard outside a confessional without a
just cause." (1983 Code of Canon Law)

"Can.
888 § 1 Priest, in hearing confessions, shall remember that they
sustain in their person equally judges and physicians, constituted
by God, to look after the divine honor and the welfare of souls.
§ 2 Let them in all respects avoid inquiring about the names of
accomplices as well as useless or curious questions, particularly
about the sixth commandment of the Decalogue, and particularly
when they inquire about such things with young people ignorant of
them." (1917 Code of Canon Law)

"Mighty
is the Lord who pardons one man for the good deed of another, and
while he approves of the one, forgives the other his sins. Why, O
man, with you does not your fellowman prevail, when with God a
servant has both the liberty to intercede in your behalf, and the
power of obtaining what he asks? If you despair of the pardon of
heavy sins, bring the prayers of others, bring the Church to pray
for you, and at sight of this the Lord may pardon what man denies
to you." (St. Ambrose, Doctor of the Church)

"For
anyone who has been wounded in a battle ought not be reluctant to
put himself in the care of a wise physician, because he was
overcome and lost the battle. And when he has been healed, he will
not be rejected by the king, but will again be counted and
reckoned in his army. So also he that has been struck by Satan
ought not be ashamed to bewail his folly, and to give it up, and
to seek a remedy in repentance... [If] anyone is ashamed, he will
not be able to be cured, since he does not wish to make his ills
known to the physician" (St. Aphraates, c. 336-345 A.D.)

"If
any one saith, that those words of the Lord the Savior, Receive ye
the Holy Ghost, whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven
them, and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained, are not
to be understood of the power of forgiving and of retaining sins
in the Sacrament of penance, as the Catholic Church has always
from the beginning understood them; but wrests them, contrary to
the institution of this sacrament, to the power of preaching the
gospel; let him be anathema." (Council of Trent)

"Who
of us can now despair about not having his sins forgiven, when
they, who crucified the Dispenser of pardon, experienced such
abounding kindness? My soul, though you may be guilty of many
crimes, do not despair. You may be caught in the web of your evil
passions and may be subject to many severe temptations,
nevertheless, disheartened one, you still have the hope of life.
The bowels of mercy are available to you, and the cross, nails,
lance, and Jesus' many blood-covered wounds are witnesses of that
mercy." (Kempis)

"The Synod teaches furthermore, that
so great is the liberality of the divine munificence, that we are
able through Jesus Christ to make satisfaction to God the Father,
not only by punishments voluntarily undertaken of ourselves for
the punishment of sin, or by those imposed at the discretion of
the priest according to the measure of our delinquency, but also,
which is a very great proof of love, by the temporal scourges
inflicted of God, and borne patiently by us." (Council of
Trent, 1551 A.D.)

"Since
you know that after the first bulwarks of the Lord's baptism there
still remains for you in confession a second reserve of aid
against hell, why do you desert your own salvation? Why are you
tardy to approach what you know heals you? Even [creatures without
reason] recognize in their time of need the medicines which have
been divinely assigned them... Shall the sinner, knowing that
confession has been instituted by the Lord for his restoration,
pass that by which restored the Babylonian king to his
realms?" [Tertullian ("an excellent early Christian writer" - although he would ultimately fall into heresy), 3rd century A.D.]

"His
Holiness...condemned and forbade as false, rash, and scandalous
the proposition, namely, 'that it is lawful through letters or
through a messenger to confess sins sacramentally to an absent
confessor, and to receive absolution from that same absent
confessor,' and orders in turn that that proposition thereafter
not be taught in public or private gatherings, assemblies, and
congresses; and that it never in any case be defended as probable,
be given the stamp of approval, or be reduced in any way to
practice." (Pope Clement VIII, 1602 A.D.)

"[W]hen
you hear a man confessing his sins, he has already come to life
again; when you hear a man lay bare his conscience in confessing,
he has already come forth from the sepulchre; but he is not yet
unbound. When is he unbound? By whom is he unbound" 'Whatever
you loose on earth,' He says, 'shall be loosed also in heaven.'
Rightly is the loosing of sins able to be given by the Church, but
the dead man cannot be raised to life again except by the Lord's
calling him interiorly; for this later is done by God in a more
interior way." (St. Augustine, Doctor of the Church, c. 5th
century A.D.)

"If
any one denieth that for the entire and perfect remission of sins
there are required three acts of the penitent, which are as it
were the matter of the sacrament of penance, to wit, contrition,
confession, and satisfaction, which are called the three parts of
penance; or saith that there are two parts only of penance, to
wit, the terrors with which the conscience is smitten upon being
convinced of sin, and the faith, generated by the gospel or by the
absolution, whereby one believes that his sins are forgiven him
through Christ; let him be anathema." (Council of Trent)

"In
confession we should employ all that care and exactness which we
usually bestow upon worldly concerns of great moment, and all our
efforts should be directed to the cure of our soul's wounds and to
the destruction of the roots of sin. We should not be satisfied
with the bare enumeration of our mortal sins, but should mention
such circumstances as considerably aggravate or extenuate their
malice. Some circumstances are so serious as of themselves to
constitute mortal guilt. On no account whatever, therefore, are
such circumstances to be omitted." (Catechism of the Council
of Trent)

Error
CONDEMNED by the Council of Constance: "Oral confession to a priest, introduced by Innocent
III, is not as necessary to people as he claimed. For if anyone
offends his brother in thought, word or deed, then it suffices to
repent in thought, word or deed." [Council of Constance, This
proposition was condemned in the sentence condemning 260 articles of
Wyclif, 'This holy synod, therefore, in
the name of our lord Jesus Christ, repudiates and condemns, by
this perpetual decree, the aforesaid articles and each one of them
in particular; and it forbids each and every Catholic henceforth,
under pain of anathema, to preach, teach, or hold the said
articles or any one of them.']

"And
if, inasmuch as the Lord is merciful and kind, we find that none
of those imploring and entreating His mercy should be prohibited
from doing penance, then peace is able to be extended through His
priests. The groans of those who mourn must be taken into account,
and the fruit of repentance must not be denied to the sorrowful.
And since among the dead there is no confession, nor in that place
can a confession of sin be made, those who have repented from the
bottom of their heart and have besought it, must after a time be
received into the Church, to be preserved therein for the
Lord." (St. Cyprian of Carthage, 251 A.D.)

"And, therefore, the
penitent should not so flatter himself on his own faith as to
think that even though he have no contrition, and that the
intention of acting earnestly and absolving effectively be wanting
in the priest, nevertheless he is truly and before God absolved by
reason of his faith alone. For faith without penance effects no
remission of sins, and he would be most negligent of his own
salvation, who would know that a priest was absolving him in a
jesting manner, and would not earnestly consult another who would
act seriously." (Council of Trent, 1551 A.D.)

"If
any one saith, that the contrition which is acquired by means of
the examination, collection, and detestation of sins - whereby
one thinks over his years in the bitterness of his soul, by
pondering on the grievousness, the multitude, the filthiness of
his sins, the loss of eternal blessedness, and the eternal
damnation which he has incurred, having therewith the purpose of a
better life - is not a true and profitable sorrow, does not
prepare for grace, but makes a man a hypocrite and a greater
sinner; in fine, that this (contrition) is a forced and not free
and voluntary sorrow; let him be anathema." (Council of
Trent)

"Iniquity,
however, sometimes makes such progress in men that even after they
have done penance and after their reconciliation to the altar they
commit the same or more grievous sins... If, therefore, it be a
careful and salubrious provision that the place of that most
humble penance in the Church is granted only once, lest that
medicine, by becoming too common should thereby become less useful
to the sick, which now is the more healthful as it is the more
respected - who, on that account, would dare to say to God: 'Why
do You pardon this man a second time when after his first penance
he is caught again the snares of his inequities?'" (St.
Augustine, Doctor of the Church, c. 413 A.D.)

"The
apostle admonishes that those who sin publicly are to be reproved
openly. When, therefore, any one has, publicly and in the sight of
many, committed a crime, whereby there is no doubt that others
have been offended and scandalized; there must needs be publicly
imposed upon him a penance suitable to the measure of his guilt;
that so those whom he has allured to evil manners by his example,
he may bring back to an upright life by the testimony of his
amendment. The bishop, however, may, when he judges it more
expedient, commute this kind of public penance into one that is
secret." (Council of Trent, 1563 A.D.)

"Let
every one then abhor sin, which defiles the mystical members of
our Redeemer; but if anyone unhappily falls and his obstinacy has
not made him unworthy of communion with the faithful, let him be
received with great love, and let eager charity see in him a weak
member of Jesus Christ. For, as the Bishop of Hippo remarks, it is
better 'to be cured within the Church's community than to be cut
off from its body as incurable members.' 'As long as a member
still forms part of the body there is no reason to despair of its
cure; once it has been cut off, it can be neither cured nor
healed.'" (Pope Pius XII, "Mystici Corporis
Christi", 1943 A.D.)

"Hence
it is evident that the debt of punishment incurred by a subsequent
sin need not always be equal to that of previous sins; but it must
be in proportion thereto, so that the more numerous or the greater
the sins previously pardoned, the greater must be the debt of
punishment incurred by any subsequent mortal sin whatever... He
whose forgiven sins return to him on account of subsequent
ingratitude, incurs the debt for all, in so far as the measure of
his previous sins is contained proportionally in his subsequent
ingratitude, but not absolutely, as stated above." (St.
Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian
in the history of the Church")

"Just as in
the case of those sins which cannot themselves be permanent,
because they pass away as soon as they are committed, but their
guilt remains, and if not remitted, will remain in eternity, so
too with concupiscence; when remitted, guilt is taken away. For
not to have sin means not to be guilty of sin. If anyone, for
example, committed adultery, even if he never does it again, he is
guilty of adultery until it be remitted... He has the sin,
therefore, although that which he committed no longer exists
because it passed away along with the passing of time at which he
committed it." (St. Augustine, Doctor of the Church, c. 419
A.D.)

"If
any one saith, that priests, who are in mortal sin, have not the
power of binding and of loosing; or, that not priests alone are
the ministers of absolution, but that, to all and each of the
faithful of Christ is it said: Whatsoever you shall bind upon
earth shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever you shall
loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven; and, whose sins
you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you
shall retain, they are retained; by virtue of which words every
one is able to absolve from sins, to wit, from public sins by
reproof only, provided he who is reproved yield thereto, and from
secret sins by a voluntary confession; let him be anathema."
(Council of Trent)

"Penance
is to deplore past sins, and, while deploring them, not to commit
again, either by act or by intention, those which we have to
deplore. Because a man is a mocker and not a penitent, who, while
doing penance, does what he repents having done, or intends to do
again what he did before, or even commits actually the same or
another kind of sin. But if a man sin afterwards either by act or
intention, this does not destroy the fact that his former penance
was real, because the reality of a former act is never destroyed
by a subsequent contrary act: for even as he truly ran who
afterwards sits, so he truly repented who subsequently sins."
(St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest
theologian in the history of the Church")

"Why should the sinner be ashamed to make known his
sins, since they are already known and manifest to God, and to His
angels, and even to the blessed in heaven? Confession opens the
door to heaven. Confession brings hope of salvation. Because of
this the Scripture says: 'First, tell thy iniquities, that you may
be justified' (Is 43:26). Here we are shown that the man will not
be saved who, during his life does not confess his sins. Neither
will that confession deliver you which is made without true
repentance. For true repentance is a grief of heart and sorrow of
soul because of the evils a man has committed. True repentance
causes us to grieve over them with a firm intention of never
committing them again." (St. Ambrose, Doctor of the Church)

"We
read in Leviticus bout lepers, where they are ordered to show
themselves to the priest, and if they have leprosy, then they are
to be declared unclean by the priest. It is not that the priests
make them lepers and unclean; rather, it is the priests who
separate the leper from the one who is not a leper, and they can
distinguish the clean from the unclean. Just as in the Old
Testament the priest makes the leper clean or unclean, so in the
New Testament the bishop binds or looses not those who are
innocent or guilty, by reason of their office, when they have
heard various kinds of sins, they know who is to be bound and who
is to be loosed." (St. Jerome, Doctor of the Church, c. 398
A.D.) [Note: In contrast to the priests of the Old Testament,
however, the priests of the New Testament - in addition to
distinguishing the unclean from the clean - actually have the
power to make sinners 'clean'.]

"Can.
7. If anyone says that in the sacrament of penance it is not
necessary by divine law for the remission of sins to confess each
and all mortal sins, of which one has remembrance after a due and
diligent examination, even secret ones and those which are against
the two last precepts of the decalogue, and the circumstances
which alter the nature of sin; but that this confession is useful
only for the instruction and consolation of the penitent, and
formerly was observed only for imposing a canonical satisfaction;
or says, that they who desire to confess all their sins wish to
leave nothing to be pardoned by divine mercy; or, finally, that it
is not lawful to confess venial sins: let him be anathema." (Council of Trent, 1551 A.D.)

"The
absolution of the penitent, for the sake of which he makes his
confession, is imparted by none but priests to whom the keys are
intrusted... The grace which is given in the sacraments, descends
from the Head to the members. Wherefore he alone who exercises a
ministry over Christ's true body is a minister of the sacraments,
wherein grace is given; and this belongs to a priest alone, who
can consecrate the Eucharist. Therefore, since grace is given in
the sacrament of Penance, none but a priest is the minister of the
sacrament: and consequently sacramental confession which should be
made to a minister of the Church, should be made to none but a
priest." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and
"greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"Ignorance
of the law does not excuse, because it is a sin by itself: but
ignorance of fact does excuse. Therefore if a man omits to confess
a sin, because he does not know it to be a sin, through ignorance
of the Divine law, he is not excused from insincerity. On the
other hand, he would be excused, if he did not know it to be a
sin, through being unaware of some particular circumstance, for
instance, if he had knowledge of another's wife, thinking her his
own. Now forgetfulness of an act of sin comes under the head of
ignorance of fact, wherefore it excuses from the sin of
insincerity in confession, which is an obstacle to the fruit of
absolution and confession." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of
the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the
Church")

"We
are bound to confession on two counts: first, by the Divine law,
from the very fact that confession is a remedy, and in this way
not all are bound to confession, but those only who fall into
mortal sin after Baptism; secondly, by a precept of positive law,
and in this way all are bound by the precept of the Church laid
down in the general council (Lateran iv, canon 21) under Innocent
III, both in order that everyone may acknowledge himself to be a
sinner, because 'all have sinned and need the grace of God'
(Romans 3:23); and that the Eucharist may be approached with
greater reverence; and lastly, that parish priests may know their
flock, lest a wolf may hide therein." (St. Thomas Aquinas,
Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history
of the Church")

"It
is written (Psalm 34:5): 'Come ye to Him and be enlightened, and
your faces shall not be confounded.' Now he who confesses all the
sins of which he is conscious, approaches to God as much as he
can: nor can more be required for him. Therefore he will not be
confounded by being repelled, but will be forgiven. Further, he
that confesses is pardoned unless he be insincere. But he who
confesses all the sins that he calls to mind, is not insincere
through forgetting some, because he suffers from ignorance of
fact, which excuses from sin. Therefore he receives forgiveness,
and then the sins which he has forgotten, are loosened, since it
is wicked to hope for half a pardon." (St. Thomas Aquinas,
Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history
of the Church")

"As
soon as a man falls into sin, charity, faith, and mercy do not
deliver him from sin, without Penance. Because charity demands
that a man should grieve for the offense committed against his
friend, and that he should be anxious to make satisfaction to his
friend; faith requires that he should seek to be justified from
his sins through the power of Christ's Passion which operates in
the sacraments of the Church; and well-ordered pity necessitates
that man should succor himself by repenting of the pitiful
condition into which sin has brought him, according to Proverbs
14:34: 'Sin maketh nations miserable'; wherefore it is written (Ecclesiasticus
30:24): 'Have pity on thy own soul, pleasing God.'" (St.
Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian
in the history of the Church")

"It
is not to be wondered at that Satan should envy man this gift, and
strive to throw such doubts and difficulties in the way as to
prevent his profiting by it. What has not heresy said against this
sacrament? It began by teaching that it takes from the glory of
holy baptism; whereas on the contrary, it honors that first
sacrament, by repairing the injuries done to it by sin. Later on,
it exacted, as absolutely necessary for the sacraments, such
perfect dispositions, that absolution would find the soul already
reconciled with God. It was by this dangerous snare of Jansenism
that so many were ruined, either by pride or by discouragement.
And lastly, it has set up that Protestant dictum: 'I confess my
sins to God': just as through God had not the right to lay down
the conditions for pardon." (Gueranger)

"The
holy synod doth furthermore teach, that the form of the sacrament
of penance, wherein its force principally consists, is placed in
those words of the minister, I absolve thee, &c: to which
words indeed certain prayers are, according to the custom of holy
Church, laudably joined, which nevertheless by no means regard the
essence of that form, neither are they necessary for the
administration of the sacrament itself. But the acts of the
penitent himself, to wit, contrition, confession and satisfaction,
are as it were the matter of this sacrament. Which acts, inasmuch
as they are, by God's institution, required in the penitent for
the integrity of the sacrament, and for the full and perfect
remission of sins, are for this reason called the parts of
penance." (Council of Trent, 1551 A.D.)

"In
prescribing medicine for the body, the physician should know not
only the disease for which he is prescribing, but also the general
constitution of the sick person, since one disease is aggravated
by the addition of another, and a medicine which would be adapted
to one disease, would be harmful to another. The same is to be
said in regard to sins, for one is aggravated when another is
added to it; and a remedy which would be suitable for one sin,
might prove an incentive to another, since sometimes a man is
guilty of contrary sins, as Gregory says (Regulae Pastoralis
iii,3). Hence it is necessary for confession that man confess all
the sins that he calls to mind, and if he fails to do this, it is
not a confession, but a pretense of confession." (St. Thomas
Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the
history of the Church")

"O
folly of sinners! If you purchase a house, you spare no pains to
get all the securities necessary to guard against the loss of your
money; if you take medicine, you are careful to assure yourself
that it cannot injure you; if you pass over a river, you
cautiously avoid all danger of falling into it; and for a
transitory enjoyment, for the gratification of revenge, for a
beastly pleasure, which lasts but a moment, you risk your eternal
salvation, saying: I will go to confession after I commit this
sin. And, when, I ask are you to go to confession? You say: On
tomorrow. But who promises you tomorrow? Who assures you that you
shall have time for confession, and that God will not deprive you
of live, as he has deprived so many others, in the act of sin?...
You cannot be certain of living for another hour" (St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church)

"Baptism
is administered but once, and cannot be repeated; Penance may by
administered and becomes necessary, as often as we may have sinned
after Baptism. Hence the Council of Trent declares: For those who
fall into sin after Baptism the Sacrament of Penance is as
necessary to salvation as is Baptism for those who have not been
already baptized. This saying of St. Jerome that Penance is a
second plank, is universally known and highly commended by all
subsequent writers on sacred things. As he who suffers shipwreck
has no hope of safety, unless, perchance, he seize on some plank
from the wreck, so he that suffers the shipwreck of baptismal
innocence, unless he cling to the saving plank of Penance, has
doubtless lost all hope of salvation." (Catechism of the
Council of Trent)

"The
manifold mercy of God so assists in the event of human lapses,
that not only by the grace of Baptism, but even through the
medicine of Penance the hope of eternal life is restored, so that
those who have violated the gifts of rebirth, when they have
condemned themselves by their own judgment, may obtain the
forgiveness of their crimes, the safeguards of the divine goodness
having been so ordained that the forgiveness of God cannot be
obtained except through the prayers of the priests. For the
Mediator of God and men, the man [and God] Christ Jesus gave this power to
those placed in charge of the Church, that they might grant a
course of penance to those who confess, and admit to the communion
of the sacraments through the gate of reconciliation those who
have been cleansed by salutary satisfaction" (Pope St. Leo I
the Great, Doctor of the Church, c. 452 A.D.)

"[St.
Ambrose] rejoiced also with those who rejoiced, and wept with
those who wept. For whenever anyone confessed his sins to him to
receive a penance, he so wept that he forced the penitent too to
weep. For he considered that he was himself in a state similar to
that of the penitent. But when case of crimes were confessed to
him, he spoke of it to none but the Lord alone, with whom he
interceded; and thus he left a good example to later priests, to
be intercessors with God rather than accusers among men. For even
according to the Apostle, love is to be confirmed in dealing with
a person of this kind; for he has become his own accuser who does
not wait for but anticipates the accuser; and thus, by confessing,
he lightens his own sin, lest he have something of which the
adversary [i.e. the devil] might accuse him." ('Life
of St. Ambrose', c. 420 A.D.)

"The
fourth sacrament is penance, the matter of which is, as it were,
the acts of the penitent, which are divided into three parts. The
first of these is contrition of heart, to which pertains grief for
a sin committed together with a resolution not to sin in the
future. The second is oral confession, to which pertains that the
sinner confess integrally to his priest all sins of which he has
recollection. The third is satisfaction for sins according to the
decision of the priest, which is accomplished chiefly by prayer,
fasting, and alms. The words of absolution which the priest utters
when he says: Ego te absolvo etc., are the form of this sacrament,
and the minister of this sacrament is the priest who has either
ordinary authority for absolving or has it by the commission of a
superior. The effect of this sacrament is absolution from
sins." (Pope Eugenius IV, "Exultate Deo", 1439
A.D.)

"Penance
regards every kind of sin in a way, but not each in the same way.
Because Penance regards actual mortal sin properly and chiefly;
properly, since, properly speaking, we are said to repent of what
we have done of our own will; chiefly, since this sacrament was
instituted chiefly for the blotting out of mortal sin. Penance
regards venial sins, properly speaking indeed, in so far as they
are committed of our own will, but this was not the chief purpose
of its institution. But as to original sin, Penance regards it
neither chiefly, since Baptism, and not Penance, is ordained
against original sin, nor properly, because original sin is not
done of our own will, except in so far as Adam's will is looked
upon as ours, in which sense the Apostle says (Romans 5:12): 'In
whom all have sinned.'" (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the
Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the
Church")

"Now
it belongs to penance to detest one's past sins, and to purpose,
at the same time, to change one's life for the better, which is
the end, so to speak, of penance. And since moral matters take
their species from the end...it is reasonable to distinguish
various species of penance, according to the various changes
intended by the penitent. Accordingly there is a threefold change
intended by the penitent. The first is by regeneration unto a new
life, and this belongs to that penance which precedes Baptism. The
second is by reforming one's past life after it has been already
destroyed, and this belongs to penance for mortal sins committed
after Baptism. The third is by changing to a more perfect
operation of life, and this belongs to penance for venial sins,
which are remitted through a fervent act of charity" (St.
Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian
in the history of the Church")

"Some
say that when a man remembers a sin which he had previously
forgotten, he ought to confess again the sins which he had
confessed before, especially if he cannot go to the same priest to
whom his previous confession was made, in order that the total
quantity of his sins may be made known to one priest. But this
does not seem necessary, because sin takes its quantity both from
itself and from the conjunction of another; and as to the sins
which he confessed he had already manifested their quantity which
they have of themselves, while as to the sin which he had
forgotten, in order that the priest may know the quantity which it
has under both the above heads, it is enough that the penitent
declare it explicitly, and confess the others in general, saying
that he had confessed many sins in his previous confession, but
had forgotten this particular one." (St. Thomas Aquinas,
Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history
of the Church")

"A
twofold power is required in order to absolve from sins, namely,
power of order and power of jurisdiction. The former power is
equally in all priests, but not the latter. And therefore, when
our Lord (John 20:23) gave all the apostles in general, the power
of forgiving sins, this is to be understood of the power which
results from receiving orders, wherefore these words are addressed
to priests when they are ordained. But to Peter in particular He
gave the power of forgiving sins (Matthew 16:19), that we may
understand that he has the power of jurisdiction before the
others. But the power of orders, considered in itself, extends to
all who can be absolved: wherefore our Lord said indeterminately,
'Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them,' on the
understanding that this power should be used in dependence on the
power given to Peter, according to His appointment." (St.
Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian
in the history of the Church")

"We
acknowledge that penance is being denied the dying and no assent
is given to the ardent wishes of those who at the time of their
death desire to come to the assistance of their souls with this
remedy. We are horrified, I confess, that anyone is found of such
great impiety, that he despairs of the love of God, as if He were
not able at any time whatever to hasten to the aid of the one who
runs to Him for help and to free from his burden a man endangered
by the weight of sins, from which he longs to be liberated. For
what else is this, I ask, than to add death to the dying and to
kill his soul with one's own cruelty, that it may not be able to
be absolved? Since God, most ready to succor, inviting to
repentance, thus promised: In whatever day, He says, the sinner
shall be converted, his sins shall not be imputed to him [cf.
Ezech.. 33:16] ... Since therefore the Lord is the examiner of the
heart, penance must not be denied at any time to one who asks for
(it)" (Pope St. Celestine I, 428 A.D.)

"It
is necessary that each and every Christian hold a trial of his own
conscience, lest from day to day he defer being converted to God,
and choose the difficulties of that time when neither the
confession of the penitent nor the reconciliation of the priest
can take place. But, as I have said, the need even of such should
be served, so that neither the action of penance nor the grace of
communion may be denied them, even if the function of speech has
been lost, and they ask it through the signs of a sound sense. But
if they are so oppressed by some violent illness, that what they
asked a little while before, they are not able to signify in the
presence of the priest, the testimonies of the faithful standing
about ought to be advantageous to them, that they may gain
simultaneously the benefit of both penance and reconciliation, the
regulation of the canons of the Fathers, however, being observed
regarding the persons of those who have sinned against God by
deserting the faith." (Pope St. Leo the Great, Doctor of the
Church, 452 A.D.)

"In
what way, then, and by what reason does the Savior bestow upon His
own disciples the dignity which belongs to the divine nature
alone? Certainly the Word, who is in the Father, would not err in
what is seemly, and what He does is right and proper. He
considered that those who already had in themselves the Divine and
Lordly Spirit ought to be lords also of forgiving the sins of
some, and of retaining those of others if they wished, the Holy
Spirit indwelling in them forgiving or retaining according to
their own will, even through the matter is executed directly
through men. Bearers of the Spirit, they forgive sins or retain
them, or so it seems to me, in two ways: for either they call to
Baptism those who are worthy, men already tested for the faith by
the sobriety and constancy of their lives, or they prohibit and
exclude from divine grace those who are not yet worthy; or in
still another way they forgive and retain sins when sons of the
Church conquer their sins, and confessing them, reform their
lives." (St. Cyril of Alexandria, Doctor of the Church, c.
431 A.D.)

"In
the first place, however, it will be well to explain why it is
that Christ our Lord was pleased to number Penance among the
Sacraments. One of His reasons certainly was to leave us no room
for doubt regarding the remission of sin which was promised by God
when He said: If the wicked do penance, etc. For each one has good
reason to distrust the accuracy of his own judgment on his own
actions, and hence we could not but be very much in doubt
regarding the truth of our internal penance. It was to destroy
this, our uneasiness, that our Lord instituted the Sacrament of
Penance, by means of which we are assured that our sins are
pardoned by the absolution of the priest; and also to tranquilize
our conscience by means of the trust we rightly repose in the
virtue of the Sacraments. The words of the priest sacramentally
and lawfully absolving us from our sins are to be accepted in the
same sense as the words of Christ our Lord when He said to the
paralytic: Son, be of good heart: thy sins are forgiven
thee." (Catechism of the Council of Trent)

"Penance
is twofold, internal and external. Internal penance is that
whereby one grieves for a sin one has committed, and this penance
should last until the end of life. Because man should always be
displeased at having sinned, for if he were to be pleased thereat,
he would for this very reason fall into sin and lose the fruit of
pardon. Now displeasure causes sorrow in one who is susceptible to
sorrow, as man is in this life; but after this life the saints are
not susceptible to sorrow, wherefore they will be displeased at,
without sorrowing for, their past sins, according to Isaiah 65:16.
'The former distresses are forgotten.' External penance is that
whereby a man shows external signs of sorrow, confesses his sins
verbally to the priest who absolves him, and makes satisfaction
for his sins according to the judgment of the priest. Such penance
need not last until the end of life, but only for a fixed time
according to the measure of the sin." (St. Thomas Aquinas,
Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history
of the Church")

"I
also decree that that presumption against the apostolic
regulation, which I recently learned is being committed by some
through unlawful usurpation, be banished by all means. With regard
to penance, what is demanded of the faithful, is clearly not that
an acknowledgement of the nature of individual sins written in a
little book be read publicly, since it suffices that the states of
consciences be made known to the priests alone in secret
confession. For although the fullness of faith seems to be
laudable, which on account of the fear of God is not afraid to
blush before men, nevertheless since the sins of all are not such
that those who ask for penance do not dread to publish them, so
objectionable a custom should be abolished ... For that confession
is sufficient, which is first offered to God, then also to a
priest, who serves as an intercessor for the transgressions of the
penitents. For then, indeed, more will be able to be incited to
penance, if the conscience of the one confessing is not exposed to
the ears of the people." (Pope St. Leo the Great, Doctor of
the Church, 459 A.D.)

"Because
there is one thing that conspicuously causes great disturbance to
holy church, namely, false penance, we warn our brothers in the
episcopate and priests not to allow the souls of the laity to be
deceived or dragged off to hell by false penances. It is agreed
that a penance is false when many sins are disregarded and a
penance is performed for one only, or when it is done for one sin
in such a way that the penitent does not renounce another. Thus it
is written: Whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point,
has become guilty of all of it; this evidently pertains to eternal
life. Therefore, just as a person who is entangled in all sins
will not enter the gate of eternal life, so also if a person
remains in one sin. False penance also occurs when the penitent
does not resign a position at a court or in business which cannot
be carried on without sin, or if hate is harbored in his heart, or
if the person does not make amends to whomever he offended, or if
an injured party does not pardon the offender, or if anyone
unjustly carries arms." (Second Lateran Council)

"This
is the medicine for sins, established by God and delivered to the
priests of the Church, who make diligent use of it in healing the
afflictions of men. You are aware of these things, as also of the
fact that God, because He greatly cares for us, give us penitence
and showed us the medicine of repentance; and He established some
men, those who are priests, as physicians of sins. If in this
world we receive through them healing and forgiveness of sins, we
shall be delivered from the judgement that is to come. It behooves
us, therefore, to draw near to the priests in great confidence and
to reveal to them our sins; and those priests, with all diligence,
solicitude, and love, and in accord with the regulations...will
grant healing to sinners... [They] will not disclose the things
that ought not be disclosed; rather, they will be silent about the
things that have happened, as befits true and loving fathers who
are bound to guard the same of their children while striving to
heal their bodies." [Theodore of Mopsuestia (a friend &
fellow student of St. John Chrysostom and a bishop - although he
would ultimately be condemned for Nestorianism), c. 5th century
A.D.)]

"A
thing is necessary for salvation in two ways: first, absolutely;
secondly, on a supposition. A thing is absolutely necessary for
salvation, if no one can obtain salvation without it, as, for
example, the grace of Christ, and the sacrament of Baptism,
whereby a man is born again in Christ. The sacrament of Penance is
necessary on a supposition, for it is necessary, not for all, but
for those who are in sin... But 'sin, when it is completed,
begetteth death' (James 1:15). Consequently it is necessary for
the sinner's salvation that sin be taken away from him; which
cannot be done without the sacrament of Penance, wherein the power
of Christ's Passion operates through the priest's absolution and
the acts of the penitent, who co-operates with grace unto the
destruction of his sin. For as Augustine says... 'He Who created
thee without thee, will not justify thee without thee.' Therefore
it is evident that after sin the sacrament of Penance is necessary
for salvation, even as bodily medicine after man has contracted a
dangerous disease." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church
and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"Confession
together with absolution has the power to deliver from punishment,
for two reasons. First, from the power of absolution itself: and
thus the very desire of absolution delivers a man from eternal
punishment, as also from the guilt. Now this punishment is one of
condemnation and total banishment: and when a man is delivered
therefrom he still remains bound to a temporal punishment, in so
far as punishment is a cleansing and perfecting remedy; and so
this punishment remains to be suffered in Purgatory by those who
also have been delivered from the punishment of hell. Which
temporal punishment is beyond the powers of the penitent dwelling
in this world, but is so far diminished by the power of the keys,
that it is within the ability of the penitent, and he is able, by
making satisfaction, to cleanse himself in this life. Secondly,
confession diminishes the punishment in virtue of the very nature
of the act of the one who confesses, for this act has the
punishment of shame attached to it, so that the oftener one
confesses the same sins, the more is the punishment
diminished." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and
"greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"There
is nothing that should be better known to the faithful that the
matter of this sacrament (of Penance); hence they should be taught
that Penance differs from the other Sacraments in this, that while
the matter of the other Sacraments is some thing, whether natural
or artificial, the matter, as it were, of the Sacrament of Penance
is the acts of the penitent, - namely contrition, confession and
satisfaction, - as has been declared by the Council of Trent. Now,
inasmuch as these acts are by divine institution required on the
part of the penitent for the integrity of the Sacrament, and for
the full and perfect reemission of sin, they are called parts of
penance. It is not because they are not the real matter that they
are called by the Council the matter as it were, but because they
are not of that sort of matter which is applied externally, such,
for instance as water in Baptism and chrism in Confirmation. As
regards the opinion of some who hold that sins themselves are the
matter of this Sacrament, it will be found, when carefully
examined, that it does not really differ from the explanation
already given. Thus we say that wood which is consumed by fire is
the matter of the fire. In the same way, sins which are destroyed
by Penance may properly be called the matter of Penance."
(Catechism of the Council of Trent)

"Confession
is all of this, so that it may excite repentance; so that it may
honor God by fear of danger; so that it may, by its own
pronouncement against the sinner, stand in place of God's
indignation; and so that it may by temporal mortification, I will
not say frustrate, but rather expunge the eternal punishments.
Therefore, while it abases a man, it raises him; while it covers
him with squalor, the more it does cleanse him; while it condemns,
it absolves. In so far as you do not spare yourself, the more,
believe me, will God spare you! Most men, however, either flee
from this work, as being an exposure of themselves, or they put it
off from day to day. I presume they are more mindful of modesty
than of salvation, like those who contract a disease in the more
shameful parts of the body and shun making themselves known to
physicians; and thus they perish along with their own
bashfulness... 'But it is a miserable thing thus to come to
confession!' Yes, evil leads to misery. But where there is
repentance misery ceases, because it is thereby turned to
salvation. If you are inclined to draw back from confession,
consider in your heart the hell which confession extinguishes for
you... Why do you hesitate to approach what you know will heal
you?" [Tertullian ("an excellent early Christian
writer" - although he would ultimately fall into heresy), c.
203 A.D.]

"By
sin, man loses a twofold dignity, one in respect of God, the other
in respect of the Church. In respect of God he again loses a
twofold dignity. One is his principal dignity, whereby he was
counted among the children of God, and this he recovers by
Penance, which is signified (Luke 15) in the prodigal son, for
when he repented, his father commanded that the first garment
should be restored to him, together with a ring and shoes. The
other is his secondary dignity, viz. innocence, of which, as we
read in the same chapter, the elder son boasted saying (Luke
15:29): 'Behold, for so many years do I serve thee, and I have
never transgressed thy commandments': and this dignity the
penitent cannot recover. Nevertheless he recovers something
greater sometimes; because as Gregory says (Hom. de centum Ovibus,
Hom. 34 in Evangelia), 'those who acknowledge themselves to have
strayed away from God, make up for their past losses, by
subsequent gains: so that there is more joy in heaven on their
account, even as in battle, the commanding officer thinks more of
the soldier who, after running away, returns and bravely attacks
the foe, than of one who has never turned his back, but has done
nothing brave.'" (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church
and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"This
truth is clearly conveyed by our Lord Himself, when, by a most
beautiful metaphor, He calls the power of administering this
Sacrament, the key of the kingdom of heaven. Just as no one can
enter any place without the help of him who has the keys, so no
one is admitted to heaven unless its gates be unlocked by the
priests to whose custody the Lord gave the keys. This power would
otherwise be of no use in the Church. If heaven can be entered
without the power of the keys, in vain would they to whom the keys
were given seek to prevent entrance within its portals. This
thought was familiar to the mind of St. Augustine. Let no man, he
says, say within himself: 'I repent in secret to the Lord. God,
who has power to pardon me, knows the inmost sentiments of my
heart.' Was there then no reason for saying 'whatsoever you loose
on earth, shall be loosed in heaven'; no reason why the keys were
given to the Church of God? This same doctrine is taught by St.
Ambrose in his treatise On Penance, when refuting the heresy of
the Novatians who asserted that the power of forgiving sins
belonged solely to God. Who, says he, yields greater reverence to
God, he who obeys or he who resists His commands? God commands us
to obey his ministers; and by obeying them, we honor God
alone." (Catechism of the Council of Trent)

"Jerome
says (Ep. 130) that 'Penance is a second plank after
shipwreck.'... Now some sacraments are, of themselves, ordained to
man's salvation, e.g. Baptism, which is the spiritual birth,
Confirmation which is the spiritual growth, the Eucharist which is
the spiritual food; whereas Penance is ordained to man's salvation
accidentally as it were, and on something being supposed, viz.
sin: for unless man were to sin actually, he would not stand in
need of Penance and yet he would need Baptism, Confirmation, and
the Eucharist; even as in the life of the body, man would need no
medical treatment, unless he were ill, and yet life, birth,
growth, and food are, of themselves, necessary to man..
Consequently Penance holds the second place with regard to the
state of integrity which is bestowed and safeguarded by the
aforesaid sacraments, so that it is called metaphorically 'a
second plank after shipwreck.' For just as the first help for
those who cross the sea is to be safeguarded in a whole ship,
while the second help when the ship is wrecked, is to cling to a
plank; so too the first help in this life's ocean is that man
safeguard his integrity, while the second help is, if he lose his
integrity through sin, that he regain it by means of
Penance." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and
"greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"In
using the keys, the priest acts as the instrument and minister of
God. Now no instrument can have an efficacious act, except in so
far as it is moved by the principal agent. Wherefore, Dionysius
says (De Ecclesiastica Hierarchia cap. ult.) that 'priests should
use their hierarchical powers, according as they are moved by
God.'... Moreover, since satisfactory punishments are medicinal,
just as the medicines prescribed by the medical art are not
suitable to all, but have to be changed according to the judgment
of a medical man, who follows not his own will, but his medical
science, so the satisfactory punishments appointed by the canons
are not suitable to all, but have to be varied according to the
judgment of the priest guided by the Divine instinct. Therefore
just as sometimes the physician prudently refrains from giving a
medicine sufficiently efficacious to heal the disease, lest a
greater danger should arise on account of the weakness of nature
so the priest, moved by Divine instinct, some times refrains from
enjoining the entire punishment due to one sin, lest by the
severity of the punishment, the sick man come to despair and turn
away altogether from repentance...in the remission of the due
punishment, there is need for discretion." (St. Thomas
Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the
history of the Church")

"One
may forget a thing in two ways, either so that it escapes the
memory altogether, and then one cannot search for it; or so that
it escapes from the memory in part, and in part remains, as when I
remember having heard something in general, but know not what it
was in particular, and then I search my memory in order to
discover it. Accordingly a sin also may be forgotten in two ways,
either so as to remain in a general, but not in a particular
remembrance, and then a man is bound to bethink himself in order
to discover the sin, because he is bound to have contrition for
each individual mortal sin. And if he is unable to discover it,
after applying himself with due care, it is enough that he be
contrite for it, according as it stands in his knowledge, and
indeed he should grieve not only for the sin, but also for having
forgotten it, because this is owing to his neglect. If, however,
the sin has escaped from his memory altogether, then he is excused
from his duty through being unable to fulfill it, and it is enough
that he be contrite in general for everything wherein he has
offended God. But when this inability is removed, as when the sin
is recalled to his memory, then he is bound to have contrition for
that sin in particular, even as a poor man, who cannot pay a debt,
is excused, and yet is bound to, as soon as he can." (St.
Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian
in the history of the Church")

"It
is impossible for Penance to take one sin away without another.
First because sin is taken away by grace removing the offense
against God. Wherefore it was stated...that without grace no sin can be forgiven. Now every mortal sin is
opposed to grace and excludes it. Therefore it is impossible for
one sin to be pardoned without another. Secondly, because...mortal
sin cannot be forgiven without true Penance, to which it belongs
to renounce sin, by reason of its being against God, which is
common to all mortal sins: and where the same reason applies, the
result will be the same. Consequently a man cannot be truly
penitent, if he repent of one sin and not of another. For if one
particular sin were displeasing to him, because it is against the
love of God above all things (which motive is necessary for true
repentance), it follows that he would repent of all. Whence it
follows that it is impossible for one sin to be pardoned through
Penance, without another. Thirdly, because this would be contrary
to the perfection of God's mercy, since His works are perfect, as
stated in Deuteronomy 32:4; wherefore whomsoever He pardons, He
pardons altogether. Hence [it is written], that 'it is
irreverent and heretical to expect half a pardon from Him Who is
just and justice itself.'" (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the
Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the
Church")

"Contrition,
which holds the first place amongst the aforesaid acts of the
penitent, is a sorrow of mind, and a detestation for sin
committed, with the purpose of not sinning for the future. This
movement of contrition was at all times necessary for obtaining
the pardon of sins; and, in one who has fallen after baptism, it
then at length prepares for the remissions of sins, when it is
united with confidence in the divine mercy, and with the desire of
performing the other things which are required for rightly
receiving this sacrament. Wherefore the holy Synod declares, that
this contrition contains not only a cessation from sin, and the
purpose and the beginning of a new life, but also a hatred of the
old, agreeably to that saying; Cast away from you all your
iniquities, wherein you have transgressed, and make to yourselves
a new heart and a new spirit. And assuredly he who has considered
those cries of the saints; To thee only have I sinned, and have
done evil before thee, I have labored in my groaning, every night
I will wash my bed, I will recount to thee all my years, in the
bitterness of my soul, and others of this kind, will easily
understand that they flowed from a certain vehement hatred of
their past life, and from an exceeding detestation of sins." (Council of
Trent, 1551 A.D.)

"The
Council teaches, furthermore, that though it sometimes happens
that this contrition is perfect because of charity and reconciles
man to God, before this sacrament is actually received, this
reconciliation nevertheless must not be ascribed to the contrition
itself without the desire of the sacrament which is included in
it. That imperfect contrition [can. 5] which is called attrition,
since it commonly arises either from the consideration of the
baseness of sin or from fear of hell and its punishments, if it
renounces the desire of sinning with the hope of pardon, the Synod
declares, not only does not make a person a hypocrite and a
greater sinner, but is even a gift of God and an impulse of the
Holy Spirit, not indeed as already dwelling in the penitent, but
only moving him, assisted by which the penitent prepares a way for
himself unto justice. And though without the sacrament of penance
it cannot per se lead the sinner to justification, nevertheless it
does dispose him to obtain the grace of God in the sacrament of
penance. For the Ninivites, struck in a salutary way by this fear
in consequence of the preaching of Jonas which was full of terror,
did penance and obtained mercy from the Lord [cf. Jonas 3]. For
this reason, therefore, do some falsely accuse Catholic writers,
as if they taught that the sacrament of penance confers grace
without any pious endeavor on the part of those who receive it, a
thing which the Church of God has never taught or pronounced."
(Council of Trent, 1551 A.D.)

"Moreover,
it is clear that this sacrament differs in many respects from
baptism. For aside from the fact that in the matter and
form, by which the essence of a sacrament is effected, it differs
very widely, it is certainly clear that the minister of baptism
need not be a judge, since the Church exercises judgment on no one
who has not first entered it through the gateway of baptism. 'For
what have I to do,' says St. Paul, 'to judge them that are
without?' [1 Cor. 5:12]. It is otherwise with those of the
household of the faith, whom Christ the Lord by the laver of
baptism has once made 'members of his own body' [1 Cor. 12:13].
For these, if they should afterwards have defiled themselves by
some crime, He did not now wish to have cleansed by the repetition
of baptism, since that is in no way permitted in the Catholic
Church, but to be placed, as it were, as culprits before the
tribunal, so that by the sentence of the priests they may be freed
not only once, but as often as they, repentant for the sins
committed, have had recourse to Him. Furthermore, the fruit of
baptism is one thing; that of penance is another thing. For by
putting on Christ by baptism [Gal. 3:27], we are made an entirely
new creature in Him, obtaining a full and complete remission of
all sins, to which newness and integrity, however, we can in no
way arrive by the sacrament of penance without many tears and
labors on our part, for divine justice demands this, so that
penance has justly been called by the holy Fathers, 'a laborious
kind of baptism.' This sacrament of penance, moreover, is
necessary for the salvation of those who have fallen after
baptism, as baptism itself is for those as yet not regenerated." (Council of Trent, 1551 A.D.)

"As
regards those who, by sin, have fallen from the received grace of
Justification, they may be again justified, when, God exciting
them, through the sacrament of Penance they shall have attained to
the recovery, by the merit of Christ, of the grace lost: for this
manner of Justification is of the fallen the reparation: which the
holy Fathers have aptly called a second plank after the shipwreck
of grace lost. For, on behalf of those who fall into sins after
baptism, Christ Jesus instituted the sacrament of Penance, when He
said, Receive ye the Holy Ghost, whose sins you shall forgive,
they are forgiven them, and whose sins you shall retain, they are
retained. Whence it is to be taught, that the penitence of a
Christian, after his fall, is very different from that at (his)
baptism; and that therein are included not only a cessation from
sins, and a detestation thereof, or, a contrite and humble heart,
but also the sacramental confession of the said sins, at least
in desire, and to be made in its season, and sacerdotal
[priestly] absolution; and likewise satisfaction by fasts, alms,
prayers, and the other pious exercises of a spiritual life; not
indeed for the eternal punishment, which is, together with the
guilt, remitted, either by the sacrament, or by the desire of the
sacrament, but for the temporal punishment, which, as the sacred
writings teach, is not always wholly remitted, as is done in
baptism, to those who, ungrateful to the grace of God which they
have received, have grieved the Holy Spirit, and have not feared
to violate the temple of God. Concerning which penitence it is
written; Be mindful whence thou art fallen; do penance, and do the
first works. And again; The sorrow that is according to God
worketh penance steadfast unto salvation. And again; Do penance,
and bring forth fruits worthy of penance." (Council of Trent,
1547)

"Wherefore,
since the nature and order of a judgment require this, that
sentence be passed only on those subject (to that judicature), it
has ever been firmly held in the Church of God, and this Synod
ratifies it as a thing most true, that the absolution, which a
priest pronounces upon one over whom he has not either an ordinary
or a delegated jurisdiction, ought to be of no weight whatever.
And it hath seemed to our most holy Fathers to be of great
importance to the discipline of the Christian people, that certain
more atrocious and more heinous crimes should be absolved, not by
all priests, but only by the highest priests: whence the Sovereign
Pontiffs, in virtue of the supreme power delivered to them in the
universal Church, were deservedly able to reserve, for their
special judgment, certain more grievous cases of crimes. Neither
is it to be doubted, seeing that all things, that are from God,
are well ordered - but that this same may be lawfully done by all
bishops, each in his own diocese, unto edification, however, not
unto destruction, in virtue of the authority, above (that of)
other inferior priests, delivered to them over their subjects,
especially as regards those crimes to which the censure of
excommunication is annexed. But it is consonant to the divine
authority, that this reservation of cases have effect, not merely
in external polity, but also in God's sight. Nevertheless, for
fear lest any may perish on this account, it has always been very
piously observed in the said Church of God, that there be no
reservation at the point of death, and that therefore all priests
may absolve all penitents whatsoever from every kind of sins and
censures whatever: and as, save at that point of death, priests
have no power in reserved cases, let this alone be their endeavor,
to persuade penitents to repair to superior and lawful judges for
the benefit of absolution." (Council of Trent, 1551 A.D.)

"The
fact that a sin cannot be taken away by Penance may happen in two
ways: first, because of the impossibility of repenting of sin;
secondly, because of Penance being unable to blot out a sin. In
the first way the sins of the demons and of men who are lost,
cannot be blotted out by Penance, because their will is confirmed
in evil, so that sin cannot displease them as to its guilt, but
only as to the punishment which they suffer, by reason of which
they have a kind of repentance, which yet is fruitless, according
to Wisdom 5:3: 'Repenting, and groaning for anguish of spirit.'
Consequently such Penance brings no hope of pardon, but only
despair. Nevertheless no sin of a wayfarer can be such as that,
because his will is flexible to good and evil. Wherefore to say
that in this life there is any sin of which one cannot repent, is
erroneous, first, because this would destroy free-will, secondly,
because this would be derogatory to the power of grace, whereby
the heart of any sinner whatsoever can be moved to repent,
according to Proverbs 21:1: 'The heart of the king is in the hand
of the Lord: whithersoever He will He shall turn it.' It is also
erroneous to say that any sin cannot be pardoned through true
Penance. First, because this is contrary to Divine mercy, of which
it is written (Joel 2:13) that God is 'gracious and merciful,
patient, and rich in mercy, and ready to repent of the evil'; for,
in a manner, God would be overcome by man, if man wished a sin to
be blotted out, which God were unwilling to blot out. Secondly,
because this would be derogatory to the power of Christ's Passion,
through which Penance produces its effect, as do the other
sacraments, since it is written (1 John 2:2): 'He is the
propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for
those of the whole world.' Therefore we must say simply that, in
this life, every sin can be blotted out by true Penance."
(St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest
theologian in the history of the Church")

"It
is impossible for a mortal actual sin to be pardoned without
penance, if we speak of penance as a virtue. For, as sin is an
offense against God, He pardons sin in the same way as he pardons
an offense committed against Him. Now an offense is directly
opposed to grace, since one man is said to be offended with
another, because he excludes him from his grace. Now, as stated in
the FS,Q110,A1, the difference between the grace of God and the
grace of man, is that the latter does not cause, but presupposes
true or apparent goodness in him who is graced, whereas the grace
of God causes goodness in the man who is graced, because the
good-will of God, which is denoted by the word grace, is the cause
of all created good. Hence it is possible for a man to pardon an
offense, for which he is offended with someone, without any change
in the latter's will; but it is impossible that God pardon a man
for an offense, without his will being changed. Now the offense of
mortal sin is due to man's will being turned away from God,
through being turned to some mutable good. Consequently, for the
pardon of this offense against God, it is necessary for man's will
to be so changed as to turn to God and to renounce having turned
to something else in the aforesaid manner, together with a purpose
of amendment; all of which belongs to the nature of penance as a
virtue. Therefore it is impossible for a sin to be pardoned anyone
without penance as a virtue. But the sacrament of Penance, as
stated above (Q88,A3), is perfected by the priestly office of
binding and loosing, without which God can forgive sins, even as
Christ pardoned the adulterous woman, as related in John 8, and
the woman that was a sinner, as related in Luke vii, whose sins,
however, He did not forgive without the virtue of penance: for as
Gregory states (Hom. 33 in Evangelia), 'He drew inwardly by
grace,' i.e. by penance, 'her whom He received outwardly by His
mercy.'" (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and
"greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"If
such, in all the regenerate, were their gratitude towards God, as
that they constantly preserved the justice received in baptism by
His bounty and grace; there would not have been need for another
sacrament, besides that of baptism itself, to be instituted for
the remission of sins. But because God, rich in mercy, knows our
frame, He hath bestowed a remedy of life even on those who may,
after baptism, have delivered themselves up to the servitude of
sin and the power of the devil, the sacrament to wit of Penance,
by which the benefit of the death of Christ is applied to those
who have fallen after baptism. Penitence was indeed at all times
necessary, in order to attain to grace and justice, for all men
who had defiled themselves by any mortal sin, even for those who
begged to be washed by the sacrament of Baptism; that so, their
perverseness renounced and amended, they might, with a hatred of
sin and a godly sorrow of mind, detest so great an offence of God.
Wherefore the prophet says; Be converted and do penance for all
your iniquities, and iniquity shall not be your ruin. The Lord
also said; Except you do penance, you shall also likewise perish;
and Peter, the prince of the apostles, recommending penitence to
sinners who were about to be initiated by baptism, said; Do
penance, and be baptized every one you. Nevertheless, neither
before the coming of Christ was penitence a sacrament, nor is it
such, since His coming, to any previously to baptism. But the Lord
then principally instituted the sacrament of penance, when, being
raised from the dead, He breathed upon His disciples, saying
Receive ye the Holy Ghost, whose sins you shall forgive, they are
forgiven them, and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.
By which action so signal, and words so clear, the consent of all
the Fathers has ever understood, that the power of forgiving and
retaining sins was communicated to the apostles and their lawful
successors, for the reconciling of the faithful who have fallen
after baptism." (Council of Trent, 1551 A.D.)

"For
it came to our attention not so long ago that some confessors of
those parts, allowing themselves to be seduced by a false idea of
zeal, but straying far from the zeal 'according to knowledge' [cf.
Rom. 10:2], have begun to bring in and to introduce a certain evil
and pernicious practice in hearing the confessions of the faithful
of Christ, and in administering the very saving sacrament of
penance: namely, that if by chance they should happen upon
penitents who have an associate in their sin, they demand at times
from these penitents the name of such an accomplice or companion,
and they attempt to induce them to reveal this to them not only by
persuasion, but what is more detestable, they directly force and
compel them to reveal it, under a threat of denying them
sacramental absolution; nay more, they demand that not only the
name of the accomplice be made known but also the place of
residence, and this intolerable imprudence they do not hesitate to
disguise by the specious pretext of procuring the correction of
the accomplice and of accomplishing other good effects, nor to
defend it by falsifying the opinions of learned men, when, in
truth, by following false and erroneous opinions of this sort, or
by making a bad application of true and sound principles, they
bring destruction not only to their own souls but also to those of
their penitents, and, besides, they render themselves guilty
before God, the eternal judge, of many serious evils which they
ought to have foreseen would easily follow from their action...
Moreover, in order that we may not seem to be lacking in our
apostolic ministry to any degree in so great a danger to souls,
and so that we may not permit our mind on this matter to be
obscure or ambiguous to you, we wish you to know that the practice
mentioned above must be entirely repudiated, and this same
practice is reproved and condemned by Us through our present
letters in the form of a brief, as scandalous and dangerous, and
as harmful to the reputation of one's neighbor as it is to the
sacrament itself, and tending to the violation of the most sacred
sacramental seal and alienating the faithful from so advantageous
and necessary a use of this same sacrament of penance." (Pope
Benedict XIV, 1745 A.D.)

"Finally,
as regards satisfaction, which as it is, of all the parts of
penance, that which has been at all times recommended to the
Christian people by our Fathers, so is it the one especially which
in our age is, under the loftiest pretext of piety, impugned by
those who have an appearance of godliness, but have denied the
power thereof, the holy Synod declares, that it is wholly false,
and alien from the word of God, that the guilt is never forgiven
by the Lord, without the whole punishment also being therewith
pardoned. For clear and illustrious examples are found in the
sacred writings, whereby, besides by divine tradition, this error
is refuted in the plainest manner possible. And truly the nature
of divine justice seems to demand, that they, who through
ignorance have sinned before baptism, be received into grace in
one manner; and in another those who, after having been freed from
the servitude of sin and of the devil, and after having received
the gift of the Holy Ghost, have not feared, knowingly to violate
the temple of God, and to grieve the Holy Spirit. And it beseems
the divine clemency, that sins be not in such wise pardoned us
without any satisfaction, as that, taking occasion therefrom,
thinking sins less grievous, we, offering as it were an insult and
an outrage to the Holy Ghost, should fall into more grievous sins,
treasuring up wrath against the Day of wrath. For, doubtless,
these satisfactory punishments greatly recall from sin, and check
as it were with a bridle, and make penitents more cautious and
watchful for the future; they are also remedies for the remains of
sin, and, by acts of the opposite virtues, they remove the habits
acquired by evil living. Neither indeed was there ever in the
Church of God any way accounted surer to turn aside the impending
chastisement of the Lord, than that men should, with true sorrow
of mind, practice these works of penitence. Add to these things,
that, whilst we thus, by making satisfaction, suffer for our sins,
we are made conformable to Jesus Christ, who satisfied for our
sins, from whom all our sufficiency is; having also thereby a most
sure pledge, that if we suffer with him, we shall also be
glorified with him. But neither is this satisfaction, which we
discharge for our sins, so our own, as not to be through Jesus
Christ. For we who can do nothing of ourselves, as of ourselves,
can do all things, He cooperating, who strengthens us. Thus, man
has not wherein to glory, but all our glorying is in Christ: in
whom we live; in whom we merit; in whom we satisfy; bringing forth
fruits worthy of penance, which from him have their efficacy; by
him are offered to the Father; and through him are accepted by the
Father. Therefore the priests of the Lord ought, as far as the
Spirit and prudence shall suggest, to enjoin salutary and suitable
satisfactions, according to the quality of the crimes and the
ability of the penitent; lest, if haply they connive at sins, and
deal too indulgently with penitents, by enjoining certain very
light works for very grievous crimes, they be made partakers of
other men's sins. But let them have in view, that the
satisfaction, which they impose, be not only for the preservation
of a new life and a medicine of infirmity, but also for the
avenging and punishing of past sins. For the ancient Fathers
likewise both believe and teach, that the keys of the priests were
given, not to loose only, but also to bind." (Council of
Trent, 1551 A.D.)

"From
the institution of the sacrament of penance as already explained
the universal Church has always understood that the complete
confession of sins was also instituted by our Lord, and by divine law is necessary for all
who have fallen after baptism, because our Lord Jesus
Christ, when about to ascend from earth to heaven, left behind Him
priests as His own vicars, as
rulers and judges, to whom all the mortal sins into which the
faithful of Christ may have fallen should be brought, so that they
in virtue of the power of the keys may pronounce the sentence of
remission or retention of sins. For it is evident that priests
could not have exercised this judgment without a knowledge of the
matter, nor could they indeed have observed justice in imposing
penalties, if the faithful had declared their sins in general
only, and not specifically and one by one. From this it is
gathered that all mortal sins of which they have knowledge after a
careful self-examination must be enumerated in confession by the
penitents, even though they are most secret and have been
committed only against the two last precepts of the decalogue, sins which sometimes wound the soul more
grievously, and are more dangerous than those which are committed
openly. For venial sins, by which we are not excluded from the
grace of God and into which we fall more frequently, although they
may rightly and profitably and without any presumption be declared
in confession, as the practice of pious persons
indicates, may be passed over in silence without guilt and may be
expiated by many other remedies. But since all mortal sins, even
those of thought, make men children of wrath and
enemies of God, it is necessary to ask pardon for all of them from
God by an open and humble confession. While, therefore, the
faithful of Christ strive to confess all sins which occur to their
memory, they undoubtedly lay all of them before the divine mercy
to be forgiven. While those who do otherwise and
knowingly conceal certain sins, lay nothing before the divine
bounty for forgiveness by the priest. 'For if one who is ill is
ashamed to make known his wound to the physician, the physician
does not remedy what he does not know.' Furthermore, it is
gathered that those circumstances also must be explained in
confession, which alter the species of the sin, because
without them the sins themselves are neither honestly revealed by
the penitents, nor are they known to the judges, and it would not
be possible for them to judge rightly the gravity of the crimes
and to impose the punishment which is proper to those penitents.
Hence it is unreasonable to teach that these circumstances have
been conjured up by idle men. or that one circumstance only must
be confessed, namely up by idle men, or that one circumstance only
must be confessed, namely to have sinned against a brother. But it
is also impious to say that a confession, which is ordered to be
made in this manner is impossible, or to call it a
torture of conscience; for it is clear that in the Church nothing
else is exacted of the penitents than that each one, after he has
carefully examined himself and searched all the nooks and recesses
of his conscience, confess those sins by which he recalls that he
has mortally offended his Lord and God; moreover, the other sins
which do not occur to him after diligent thought, are understood
to be included in a general way in the same confession; for these
sins we trustingly say with the Prophet: 'From my hidden sins
cleanse me, O Lord' [Ps. 18:13]. But, truly, the difficulty of such
confession and the shame of disclosing the sins might appear a
burdensome matter indeed, if it were not alleviated by so many and
such great advantages and consolations which are most certainly
bestowed by absolution upon all those who approach this sacrament
worthily." (Council of Trent, 1551 A.D.)

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